Fallen Gods, page 21
“Hey, what the hell, man? What are you doing?”
Max drew back on it and blew out a puff of weed smoke.
“Come on. I was smoking this stuff before your parents were born,” he growled.
Aaron was just shaking his head. They had broken so many laws now that a few more didn’t seem to matter.
Chapter 15
Aaron both smiled and sighed as he saw the ‘Welcome to New York’ sign. He was glad to be back, but deeply nervous about what they were about to do, moving to go into action for the first time. The first time they had actively sought out the enemy to engage them. He knew it should be some relief in that they would have the element of surprise. Every time they’d been forced to fight so far, it had been on enemy terms. But in reality, it was no relief at all. He was scared. They all were.
A phone rang from the back seat. He was so on edge he almost jumped out of his skin. It was nothing more than Theodosia’s cell.
“What have you got for me?”
She’d answered the call, but none of them could hear whoever was speaking on the other end of the call. Aaron kept peering into the rearview to see the concern on her face.
“This doesn’t look good,” whispered Luca, sitting opposite him.
“Call everyone in. You know what to do,” she replied sternly before ending the call.
“They’ve found it, the last shard.”
“What? How could they have it already?” Thanatos said. He was sitting beside her.
“You forget we have been fighting this a lot longer than you.”
It was true. He kept thinking they’d all arrived at the same time, but that got him thinking again. Where the others must have landed, and when? But it didn’t matter now.
“Time is running out. We’ve got but one choice left now,” she declared.
Aaron knew what was coming, but he didn’t want to hear it. She put a hand on Luca’s shoulder.
“You know where this crowning is going to take place. Hades will not hesitate to do it at the soonest opportunity. Take us there. It’s our last chance to stop this.”
“If we go there, it’s going to be war,” he replied in horror.
“Yes, the end of one.”
“Our friends, they’ve not had time to get ready for this. They need to start small.”
“We don’t have a choice.”
“You’re going to get them killed.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” Theodosia snapped angrily, “I’ve been losing friends almost every day since I got here. That call I just got? It was from a dying soldier. She and three others have paid the ultimate sacrifice in an attempt to protect the last shard. We know this is the end because of them. Yes, some of us are going to die, maybe even all of us. But if we lose this fight, it was all for nothing. We don’t show up, and try and do something, it’s over anyway.”
She looked away, out of the window at the city as they entered the outskirts, knowing she was doing no good by scaring them.
“It’s that bad?” Aaron asked.
“Yes,” she replied softly.
“Then it’s really come to this. A fight we can’t run from. We win, or we die? The end of the road.”
“This is not the end of us,” she replied in a surprised tone, “There are always more battles to be fought.”
“You’re not exactly selling it.”
“Tell me, as a police officer, is there ever an end to your work? When you bring criminals to justice, or save the city from terrorist plots, do you celebrate those victories?”
“I think you over estimate our job. I’m not James Bond.”
“Who?”
He shook his head.
“So, you’re really up for this?”
“The city needs heroes right now.”
“And you think you’re one of them?”
“No, I never had a choice in all this. Not really. I signed up to protect this city a long time ago, and this practically fell in my lap. But the rest of them, Ava, Mikey, even Rick, they had a choice. They could have walked away and pretended none of this was real. But they didn’t, they’re the heroes. They’re the reason we’re gonna stand a chance now.”
“You believe in them that much?”
“Damn right, I do. I trained these fighters, and I know what they’re capable of.”
“I really hope you’re right.”
Aaron was thinking just the same. He had to have confidence in them.
“So, Luca, where are we going? You know this place. You’re the only one that does.”
“Just keep on going straight. I’ll tell you when to turn.”
“Still sure you can find it?” Aaron asked subtly, hoping the other two couldn’t hear.
“We’re screwed if I don’t,” he replied confidently.
But Aaron was still anxious about it all.
“This is absolutely necessary, right? There’s no other way?” He looked back at Theodosia in between checking the road again. He wanted to see the look on her face and know she was giving them the honest truth.
“It’s the only way, and if we could have done it alone, we already would have.”
“Down there,” Luca finally declared.
He was looking out and studying the buildings on the second floor up as if navigating by the architecture. He soon noticed Aaron looking at him concerned.
“I didn’t drive back then, man. I know how to find this place, okay, just not by roads of street names, okay?”
“All right, all right, I just don’t know how much time we have.”
“They’ve got to get the shard back to Hades,” said Theodosia.
“But we don’t know where he is,” said Thanatos.
“Of course we do. There’s only one place he can be, and we know where the shard was taken.”
“Where?” Luca asked.
She held out a phone with GPS showing the last known location for him to see.
“You kidding me, that’s the other side of town. A few miles out, traffic will be a bitch for them.”
“When did this happen?”
“About thirty minutes ago.”
“Then there’s hope. It’s all on you now,” said Aaron, hoping his partner really was as confident as he claimed.
He led them down several more turns and into a filthy dirty alleyway lined with garbage. The kind of place nobody would ever want to frequent.
“Stop here!”
The brakes squealed as Aaron brought them to an abrupt halt. Luca’s head almost struck the dash as he lifted his hands to cushion the blow.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“We’re on the clock. We don’t have much time.”
“You heard what she said. They’ll be a while yet.”
“Maybe, but let’s not find out, okay?”
They got out to find there was nowhere to go. Aaron sighed as the rest of the group assembled. They were over thirty fighters including those Theodosia had brought with them. Ganymede was at their forefront and Aceso close behind. Ganymede was grinning like an idiot toward Thanatos, eager to please, and ecstatic to be able to fight beside him.
“This is a real honor,” he declared excitedly.
“It will be if we win.”
“You don’t think we can?”
“Who the hell knows?”
“But you believe in us, right?”
“Not really.”
Theodosia quickly pulled him aside.
“Hey, take it easy, will you? The last thing any of them need is doubt cast into their fragile minds,” she whispered.
He looked back at the smile on the cupbearer’s face. He was eager to please.
“All right, you think we can do this, maybe we can,” he said for both of them to hear.
Aaron was watching his partner move along the alley, studying every inch of it. There seemed no entrance or way out but the roadway. Aaron still had his doubts about his partner’s confidence in finding the place, but it would do none of them any good to air those reservations now. Finally, he stopped in front of a door with a large chain and lock, and he nodded excitedly. Aaron drew his sword as if to cut the chain, and but Luca merely lifted the backing plate behind it, and rotated it over to release the door. Aaron was flabbergasted. He couldn’t have known that was how it worked unless he’d been there before. He pulled the door open. They both drew out their torches and stepped inside. It was a long abandoned workshop of some sort.
“How is this place even still here? With the real estate prices around here?”
“Owned by the city, I guess. They probably don’t even know it’s here.”
It was obvious that was nothing more than speculation. The rest of the group followed them in as Aaron led them through a few rooms.
“It stinks in here.” Aaron felt his nostrils burn from the stench of old urine among other things, but he caught a glimpse of movement. He stopped and lifted his blade. A man walked past the doorway up ahead. He looked like a rough sleeper.
“It’s okay. A few of the older guys on the streets that still know about this place use it. They keep it to themselves though, you know.”
Aaron went on. He looked suspicious. It seemed to him they were being led nowhere, and yet he looked back at the small army they were leading.
“You better be right about this,” he groaned.
“You know how to police and how to fight. I’ve learned a lot from you. But trust me, I know the street. I know every corner of this city. While a lot of kids I grew up with were playing video games and going to the mall, I was out here, exploring.”
Aaron was shaking his head at the disgusting location, wondering what would ever have brought a kid there.
“You don’t see it, do you?”
“What?”
“The beauty of it all. To me, this was a jungle to be explored. No matter whether it was gleaming and expensive, or run down and ruined. People explore the countryside. They marvel at old things, ruins, the aging effect of life. Yet they can’t see the same beauty here, in the city?”
“Jesus, when did you get so philosophical?”
“I guess I’ve always thought that way. I just never stopped to think why. Meeting real life gods makes you stop and rethink a few things.”
“Really? I’m kind of wishing we never did.”
“You kidding me? Your main religion here bangs on about a second coming being the greatest thing in the world. But you get to meet gods, and that’s your response?”
“Thanatos, the second coming was one of those prophecies that was never going to actually happen. People hang on to the idea of it, because it’s the idea that they connect with. You think anyone really wants a second coming of Jesus. You think they’d want to be judged for all the shit they’ve done?”
Thanatos couldn’t help but laugh.
“So you like the idea of gods, so long as they stay on the page?”
“Sure, that way we can decide what the gods are, and what they want.”
“That’s about the most honest thing I’ve heard since I got here,” replied Theodosia.
“Yeah, well, if I’d known this is what meeting the gods would be like, I’d have avoided you, too.”
Once again Thanatos laughed out loud. His deep laughter echoed through the cold empty rooms. Luca finally led them to the end of a long narrow room that appeared to be a dead end. Aaron looked disappointed. He had faith in his partner, but not in memories of his childhood.
“What are we doing here?”
Luca took hold of a large old cabinet propped in the corner and reached behind it. There was a click as he released some kind of mechanism and pulled the cabinet away from the wall. It was hinged on one side and ran on wheels. The wheels drew back years of dust and grime, revealing the faintest of scratch marks on the floor where they had run before. Behind the cabinet was a small door. It had been carefully concealed for a reason.
“What the hell is this?”
“Do you know how many old tunnels and underground hideouts were used by bootleggers and moonshiners?”
“That’s what this is?”
“It’s what it became. Come on, man, you don’t know this city like you should. You only see what’s in front of you, what’s on the surface. But this city is old, hundreds of years old. You don’t have to dig deep to find the stuff underneath. You just have to know where to look.”
“Old?” Theodosia asked.
“When you don’t live forever, this place is old, okay? One of the oldest towns in the country, in fact.”
Thanatos and Theodosia smiled, for to them a few hundred years of development was nothing.
“Crazy, isn’t it?” Thanatos asked.
“What is?”
“That a hundred days could just pass us by, but now every day makes a difference.”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“What’s not to like? Aside from the end of life as we know it, this is the most fun I’ve had in, well, ever.”
“That can’t be true,” replied Luca in amazement, as Aaron ignored them all and went for the door. He levered the handle and was surprised to find it was not locked. But then it was well hidden.
“How the hell do other people not find this, Luca?”
“You’re kidding, right? You think anyone around here would go digging behind some crappy old cabinet, looking for what?”
“You did.”
“Yeah, well, I was, different.”
“You said you played down here, so there must be others that know about it?”
“Sure, but they’d not come back here anytime soon. Most of the kids wouldn’t remember how to find this place, or want to even if they could.”
“Why? What happened here?”
He fell silent, and he wouldn’t say. They didn’t have time to press him. Aaron shone his torch down the stairways ahead. At least there was a clear run as far as he could see. He didn’t much like the idea of being underground in the dark, but then his work had taken him many places he’d never have chosen to be. He took off his jacket, not wanting any restriction on his movement, no matter how cold it was. He threw it onto a filthy table nearby. A jacket that he’d normally protect with his life, for it had cost as much as many of his swords. But there were more important things now.
He took a breath of the rancid air, taking the plunge as he led the way. Thanatos was close behind, but he couldn’t help but wonder if one of the immortals should be taking point. He looked down at the metal cuirass he was wearing and smiled. It was perfectly formed, as if it had been tailored to him. As a result, it moved as well as any ballistic vest he’d ever had to wear. It looked like something out of a fantasy movie. He couldn’t believe what he was doing or what he was wearing. He moved his torso back and forth, clenching the sword tightly by his side. His hand was clammy on the grip, and he could feel sweat running down his arm. But it was a relief to find the air was better the further they went, far from the revolting stench above surface. The temperature was mild, too.
They soon reached the bottom of a flight of stairs and stepped out into a chasm. It was old brickwork that must have been there for well over a hundred years. There were empty wooden creates littered about the ground. Crates that surely had to have carried bottles of liqueur back in their day, but the spray paint graffiti on the walls looked more recent.
“Your work?” Aaron asked Luca.
“Some of it,” he replied unashamedly.
They continued on until reaching a fork.
“What are we looking for?” Aaron asked.
“Just follow me.”
Luca took lead and went left, as if knowing exactly where he was going. They carried on until they found a closed door. Luca pulled it, but it was stuck. He heaved a little harder and ripped it from its old hinges. Light flooded in, and old bulbs in the corridor ahead were on. Aaron was suspicious, but equally glad to find some signs of life. It gave him hope that they were on the right trail. Luca pointed down to the butt of a cigarette on the ground. It was still smoking, and so had to have been dropped very recently. Aaron’s pulse began to soar as they continued on. He had been doubtful of his partner, but now could feel all the pieces coming together.
It wasn’t long before they could hear voices. Aaron slowed their pace and crept forward with Luca by his side.
“It’s just around this corner. It’s a big room. You can’t miss it, like a big ha…
He paused as they turned a bend. Two armed men were guarding an entrance ahead. Aaron grabbed him and hauled him back before he was noticed, but Aaron’s armor struck a support beam, and the clash of metal echoed. It wasn’t loud, but enough to draw the attention of the guards.
“Did you see those guys? Fucking Vipers,” whispered Luca.
Aaron was already peering around the corner to see if they’d got away with it.
“Shit,” he whispered to himself as he saw both of them approaching.
They were wearing blades sheathed on their belts; one had a Japanese katana, the other a Chinese dao, a type of broad bladed saber. They wore body armor and were dressed more like private military contractors than the martial arts obsessed gangsters they were. The one with the katana had slicked back hair with so much gel it gleamed, and he was wearing sunglasses.
Aaron was shaking his head. “Douche.”
He quickly turned back to the others. They had a small army, or an army in terms of the numbers he’d ever fought with on the streets of New York. They could handle these two without a doubt, but whatever came next would be the greatest challenge. Without getting to that doorway, they had no idea what that could be. He pulled Thanatos and Luca in close.
“These two guys, we’ve got to deal with them, quick and quiet.”
They both nodded in agreement, but neither looked particularly bothered.
“I’m serious, you hear me? We do this smart, or we might not even make it long enough to get this done.”
“Speak for yourself,” replied Thanatos with a smile.
Aaron set his back against the wall, concealing himself as best he could. These were humans he was dealing with, but he couldn’t afford to reach for the pistol on his hip. He couldn’t risk making a noise, and the threat of the weapon alone would not do the trick. These gangsters didn’t care about the threat of violence, only the real thing, because they lived for it. He held his blade close and slowed his breathing to keep him calm. Finally, when there was a glimmer of movement beside him, he leapt into action. He drove his blade deep into the dao wielder and pushed him back against the far wall. The thrust went right through his armor. There was a little resistance, but he’d thrust with all his force, and nothing was going to stop it. It exited out of his back. He coughed out blood as he collapsed with a surprised look on his face.
